


Pictures of the Past

by kmc123



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Canon Compliant, Ginny thinks Ron's a little shit because he doesn't want her to crush on Harry, Marauders, Remus still thinks Sirius is a murderer and hates himself for still being in love with him, Sibling Rivalry, The Golden Trio, angst ??? maybe, mentions of wolfstar, not explicitly shown, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 20:31:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11365077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kmc123/pseuds/kmc123
Summary: In which Ginny fancies Harry, even if Ron wants her to leave him alone, and Remus is in love with Sirius, even if he isn't the boy from his photographs anymore.





	Pictures of the Past

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So this is my first, ever (!!!) Wolfstar fic and it probably needs a lot of editing but it's 2:30 am and I'm hella tired, so fuck that. But anyways, I was just way too excited to hold onto this any longer. Enjoy!

Ginny pretended to leaf through the Muggle Studies textbook that she held in her hand, her eyes flitting over each student that passed. She was on a mission, her targets (or target more like) were bound to walk through the busy corridor at any moment. 

It wasn't like Ginny was _stalking_ anyone. No! She was just waiting for a few friends that she knew were – at this exact moment – leaving Defence Against the Dark Arts and heading to the Gryffindor tower. The fact that she had created an entire plan based off of this (somewhat) common knowledge was really besides the point. 

Ginny looked up again from her textbook, her eyes widening as she noticed the inseparable trio that had managed to slip past her unnoticed and reach the far end of the hall. Their messy mops of brown, black, and red were unmistakable. Ginny cursed – a colourful word that Fred had taught her – and ran to the three children, leaving a swarm of annoyed and bewildered students in her path. 

She jogged to a stop a few feet from the Third Years and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to look as presentable as possible (thankfully, she had charmed her robes to stay wrinkle-free all day). She grinned and walked fast enough to fall in step with the group. 

"'lo, Hermione." Ginny lightly shoved the wild haired girl beside her, who in turn beamed and gave the younger redhead a quick hug. Ginny was determined to remain causal and not look at the object of her affections (which was proving to be increasingly difficult, as Ginny found that Harry always managed to look impossibly cute in his uniform). 

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, turning her back ever-so slightly to the smiling black haired and frowning red haired boys. "What class did you come from?" Ginny shrugged, and turned her textbooks so Hermione could see. 

"Muggle Studies, how 'bout you?" Ginny asked casually, despite having researched the answer to that question for hours the previous night. Of course, nobody else needed to know that. 

"Defence Against the Dark Arts." 

A scoff came from beside Hermione and Ginny immediately knew who it came from. She leaned forward and gave her brother the deadliest glare she could muster, daring him to continue. Ron rolled his eyes and ignored her, looking at his sister as if she was nothing but a large annoyance.

"Muggle Studies isn't anywhere near here." Ron crossed his arms and Ginny nervously chewed the inside of her cheek. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head and she cursed that her brother had gained the valued Weasley trait of cleverness. Ron's eyes narrowed and Ginny huffed, of course Ron would be the obstacle in her plan. "Are you following us?" 

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!" 

"Ron, it's alright... really. I like talking to Ginny and I'm sure 'Mione is thinking the same thing." Harry smiled from beside Hermione, who nodded happily. Ginny blushed shyly, tucking a red lock behind her ear and feeling as if she had suddenly hopped onto a broom and soared into the clouds. Harry Potter enjoyed talking to her! He said so straight to her face! It was practically a dream come true!

"Thanks Harry." Ginny grinned, nearly falling behind the group as a result of her daydreaming. Ron pursed his lips and glared at the smug look on his sister's face. 

"My own mates are betraying me for my sister. Some lot of Gryffindors you are." Ron whinged. Ginny crossed her arms and subtly stomped her foot, an old habit of hers that came with attempting to be taken seriously by six brothers. However, it seemed to have the opposite effect as every time she did it her brothers teased her and used many insults all relating to the word 'baby'. She opened her mouth to retort back, but was interrupted by Harry. 

"Ah bullocks!" Harry groaned, causing Ginny to giggle as she remembered how Mum had forced the twins to clean the hands on the Weasley clock with only a rag and warm water (no magic!) when they had been caught saying that word. She wondered if Mum would've given Harry the same punishment had she heard him utter the vile word. Ginny shook her head, the answer to that would most definitely be no. 

"What's wrong?" Ron asked, allowing his annoyance for his sister to slide. Harry pushed his glasses up further on his nose and sighed, nodding to his empty hands. 

"Forgot my Defence textbook back in the classroom." Ginny perked up, a brilliant new plan churning in her mind. This was perfect! This was finally her chance to talk to Harry without her tosser of a brother sticking his nose in her business! She sighed dramatically and pushed some of her flaming red hair out of her face. 

"Oh Merlin, so did I! Left a textbook, I mean." She clarified after receiving a quizzical glance from Hermione. "I can walk back with you if you'd like, Harry." Ginny smiled shyly at Harry who seemed perfectly content with the idea. Unfortunately, Ron spoke up. 

"Your textbook is in your hand." She blushed in embarrassment at having been caught and turned her head away from the trio, nose up in the air. 

"I take more than one class, Ron." Ginny quipped, feeling quite satisfied with her reply. Ron mocked her words, looking ridiculous as he spoke in a nasally voice and flipped imaginary hair out of the way. Ginny stuck out her tongue, thankfully putting an end to his very unrealistic imitation. 

"Well I guess it's settled then, yeah? Since you're so kindly running back anyways, you can grab Harry's textbook for him." Ron smiled smugly, raising an eyebrow as if to taunt his sister into having an outburst. Ginny wasn't going to give in to his stupid game, so she crossed her arms and kept a stony glare. Ron narrowed his eyes as he realized Ginny wasn't going to be broken so easily and took a different approach. "I wouldn't go with her, Harry. She's had quite the interest in love potions lately, you know. Who knows what she's been brewing in her dorm late at night..." Harry's eyes widened and Ginny looked at her brother in hurt disbelief. 

"You're a liar!" Ginny growled and spun on her heels, quick enough that the trio couldn't see the hot, angry tears that were filling her eyes. She was mortified! How dare Ron even suggest that in front of the boy she fancied! She would never!

"Give it a rest, Ginny! I know all about how girls act when they're in lo- Ow!" Ginny laughed, wiping away her tears and feeling very grateful that Hermione had a very low tolerance for idiotic comments, especially when they came from Ron.

By the time Ginny had reached the corridor that held the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, most of the students had disappeared to their dorms or the Great Hall for lunch. Her stomach growled, but she paid no mind. Her brilliant brain had already started to create another foolproof plan! Ron, thinking he had spoiled his sister's fun, had really given her the perfect opportunity to get a chance to speak with Harry.

Ginny would grab Harry's textbook and give it to him in the Common Room after supper (she'd noticed the warm fire was very popular lighting for snogging amongst some of the older students). Harry would then be so grateful that he'd invite her to have lunch with him the next day. They would spend the entire meal laughing and stealing food off of the other's plate, all while chatting with Hermione and ignoring Ron. 

The thought made her smile so wide that her cheeks began to hurt.

With this happy thought in mind, she practically skipped to the classroom. 

The Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was a lovely room, with large windows that allowed the perfect amount of sunlight to be let in for studying books (or more realistically, writing notes to friends). Ginny wandered through the rows absentmindedly, her eyes flitting around the classroom in which she'd never been in. 

The room excited Ginny and she found herself longing for it to be the next year, so that she could be Third Year and start on the advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. Third Years and higher were allowed to use the larger Defence classrooms since their lessons included a more hands on approach, while the First and Second Years mostly read about dark creatures and the like. Ginny had even heard stories that the Third Years had been allowed to fight off a Boggart!

She looked around the classroom once more, trying to think about where Harry would sit. Probably not at the very back, because of his poor eyesight. Perhaps the front? Ginny frowned, that was only likely if he really enjoyed the teacher and while Professor Lupin seemed like a nice enough man, so had all the other Defence professors. 

A light caught Ginny's eye and she looked up. On top of the iron spiral stairwell was a loft that contained a large, lit up office. She shrugged and started to make her way up the stairs. 

Perhaps Professor Lupin had seen Harry's textbook. 

/// ~~~~

Remus sat hunched over the desk that faced the large arc window, overlooking the Hogwarts grounds. The midday sun illuminated the books on his desk, but still he rubbed his eyes as if tired from too closely examining the book open in front of him.

Except, it wasn't a book, not really. Well, not one with words and chapters at least. No, the book that looked to be paining Remus Lupin, was a photo album. A photo album of his Final Year at Hogwarts, to be exact.

Remus looked at the animated characters that sat on the pages, his mind filled with thousands of thoughts. He was so focused of the cream coloured album that her didn't notice the young girl who had crept up behind him and peered over his shoulder.

"What's that?"

Remus jumped at the high pitched voice, quickly slamming the cover of the book shut. He turned around and frowned at the girl in front of him. She chewed the inside of her cheek and smiled sheepishly at him, her face a light shade of red.

"Sorry." She mumbled and looked down at her feet, suddenly finding her shoes very interesting. "Looked cool. I like photographs." Remus crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair, looking at the girl with amusement.

"You're small for a Third Year." Of course, Remus knew that the girl wasn't a Third Year. In fact, he knew exactly who she was. The pretty face and flaming red hair was a telltale sign that this was the youngest Weasley; the only girl. He had met Ginny only once before when she had been a couple months old and he had run into her mother and uncle, old classmates of his, in Diagon Alley. But Remus knew that Ginny most definitely didn't know who he was, so he pretended to be unaware of who she was so as not to scare her.

"I'm not small." Ginny crossed her arms in defiance. Remus smiled, knowing Molly would've chastised the girl for not showing proper manners, to a professor no less. "I'm actually a Second Year." She nodded her head matter-of-factly, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Remus felt his heart still in his chest for a moment as her actions caused Deja-Vu of another pretty redhead from his past. Remus quickly regained his composure and stroked his jaw, running his fingers along the jagged scars. He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" Ginny nodded fiercely. "Now what is a Second Year doing in the office of a professor who teaches a class to only Third Years and higher?" Ginny frowned, almost as if trying to remember why she had come up in the first place. As quickly as it came it went and Ginny beamed. Remus smiled, pleasantly surprised that the young redhead's enthusiasm was quite contagious.

"I'm here to pick up a textbook. My friend," she emphasized the word, "Harry Potter left it here before lunch." Remus' breath caught in his throat. Hearing the boy's name, especially his last name, was every bit as hard as seeing him in person. Not wanting Ginny to suspect anything odd about his behaviour, Remus quickly stilled the shaking of his hands and turned to his desk, shuffling some things around. Then he turned back to the youngest Weasley with a black textbook in hand.

"I believe this is what you're looking for." Remus held it out for Ginny to inspect. With wide eyes, she gingerly took it from his hands and opened the front cover, no doubt looking for the name. After reading the messy scrawl that Harry had left, she grinned and held the book tight to her chest. Remus' brows furrowed at the odd behaviour, but he quickly dismissed it. He had never been an expert on the behaviour of young girls, not now and especially not as a boy.

"Alright, well if that's all you needed, then I guess you can go and enjoy your lunch." He smiled and patted the girl's shoulder hesitantly, before turning back to his desk. Remus paused, waiting to hear the soft click of the door before returning to his previous task. The click, however, never came

"My mum has lots of photo albums at The Burrow, you know. Says they're worth a thousand words or something." Ginny offered casually, walking right beside Remus. "It's downright mad sometimes, she wants a photograph for every single little thing! Bit pointless if you ask me." Ginny babbled on and Remus looked down at the girl. Smiling softly, he decided he liked the company of the young Weasley and picked up his wand, flicking it so a stool rushed behind Ginny, waiting for her to sit on it. She did, looking thoughtfully at his desk.

"Pointless?" Remus inquired, to which Ginny nodded confidently. He pretended to look thoughtful, only to amuse the young girl, before shrugging his shoulders. "But what if you want to keep the memories?" Ginny tapped her finger on her lip, as if Remus had brought up a very good point.  

"Yeah, but mum's a bit batty. I mean, who needs to remember Ron's first Hogwarts letter? Just swap out his photo with Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, or Bill, and no one would be able to tell the difference!" Ginny's eyes darted around the office, before sheepishly slinking back into her chair. "Maybe we keep that a secret from them, yeah?" Remus chuckled and put a finger to his lips.

"Safe with me."

"So what kind of photos are these, Professor? Baby photos? Wedding photos?" Ginny wiggled to the end of her stool, her feet almost touching the floor, and looked pointedly at the cream coloured album that Remus held protectively in front of him. Remus bit the inside of his cheek, a tad uncomfortable with showing Ginny the photos. It's not as if they were inappropriate, Merlin no. They were just... his. His photographs. His memories.

"School photos." Remus took a deep breath, something inside of him begging for the album to be shared with the young girl. He didn't know the exact reason why he wanted to show Ginny the photos. Perhaps so that there'd be someone else besides him who would remember his friends the way they were; alive, loyal, and good. Whatever the reason, his mind was made up. "Would you like to look at them with me?" Ginny's eyes widened to the size of saucers and she bounced excitedly in her chair, nodding frantically.

"Yes please."

Remus chuckled and opened the album, placing it so that Ginny could have a better view of it's contents. Ginny's eyes sparkled with delight and a small weight lifted off Remus' shoulders, almost as if he had needed her approval on the photos.

"You went to Hogwarts." It wasn't a question but still Remus hummed in agreement. Ginny pulled the book closer towards her, flipping the page excitedly. She gasped and a hand flew to her mouth. "That's Harry!"

The picture was one of a boy with naturally messy black hair and hazel eyes that were covered with round glasses. His arm was slung around the shoulders of a pretty girl who's red hair was being coaxed by the wind into flying every which way. It was clear the boy was teasing her, but they were laughing together. The boy quickly kissed her cheek and the girl shoved at him lightly. Still, the smile never left their faces.

"Who's that girl?" Ginny's nose scrunched a little, for reasons unknown to Remus, as she pointed to the redhead. Remus gave the photo album a small smile, remembering the people who meant the most to him.

"That's James." He pointed to the smiling boy. "And that's Lily. They're Harry's parents." The unpleased look on Ginny's face quickly disappeared and she looked amazed, pulling the book closer. Remus sat back in his chair, letting her take her time with the photos. It's wasn't as if he hadn't stared at them a million times before.

"She's very pretty!" Remus nodded in agreement. "And he looks just like Harry..." Ginny trailed off and a light dusting of pink flooded her cheeks. Remus raised his eyebrow curiously, but didn't pry. Remus Lupin was a man who excelled in keeping his nose out of other people's business.

Ginny pushed some hair out of her face and flipped the page again. Her eyes flicked over several pictures of teachers and students alike, before resting on one that held four teenage boys. Remus smiled fondly at the book, feeling as though the photograph had been taken yesterday.

It was seventh year, Lily had been the one taking the photo. The boys honestly didn't even want a picture – a point Sirius had made quite clear with his constant whinging – but Lily insisted that it was an occasion that needed to be remembered.

" _This is your last year at Hogwarts."_ _Lily pursed her lips in a disapproving fashion, gesturing to the spot that she had picked as the most picturesque place at Hogwarts. "Don't you want a photograph in front of the castle?"  Sirius rolled his eyes and shrugged as if the thought of leaving was too worrisome for his pretty little head._

_"Sound like the mum I never had, Evans."  Remus laughed, elbowing Lily playfully who met his gaze and huffed in mock annoyance._

_"He's talking about my mum, and you can shut it Padfoot. You love her." James added, before being tackled to the ground in a mess of black hair and hysterical laughter. Lily groaned, but otherwise kept her mouth shut, knowing that there was no use in trying to stop their immaturity. Remus mouthed 'wankers', making Lily giggle before gesturing the Perfect Spot._

_"I figured. Now get up and stand over there- Remus, Peter please go and join them."  James pulled up his dark haired counter part, who lazily slung an arm over his shoulder (and somehow managing to look impossibly gorgeous)._

_"It is a bit unnecessary." Remus said, only for the sake of a certain dog and stag, flicking his wand as he moved from beside Lily to beside Sirius. The charm cleaned the dirt off their clothes and managed to make the boys look somewhat presentable, other than Sirius loose tie (which was realistically like every other day at Hogwarts) and James' crooked glasses (which Remus reasoned would be a good chance to tease James when they looked at the photograph in a few years). Peter laughed, subtly giving Remus a thumbs up on the glasses and moved beside him._  

_Lily held up the camera (which was really a muggle camera that she proudly charmed) and yelled 'cheese' (which ultimately did more harm than good as it only served to confuse Sirius, Peter, and James). Sirius ruffled Remus' hair and burst out laughing, while Remus grinned, fixing his hair in false exasperation. James looked puzzled at having missed the joke (a rare occurrence), while Peter didn't appear to be phased. Sirius wrapped an arm around Remus' shoulders, pulling the James and Remus close into his side. Remus hid a smile and did the same to Peter, all while taking advantage of the mass of robes between him and the Pureblood so that he could wrap his fingers around Sirius' waist and subtly pull him closer. Lily grinned as she examined the photograph and waved them all over to admire her masterpiece._

"You'll be grateful for that one day." Lily had said and Remus truly was. The photograph showed the relationship the four boys once held; a relationship of laughter, acceptance, and love. They stood in front of Hogwarts, their home away from home, and were surrounded by the Marauders, their family. Remus touched the corner of the photograph lovingly – longingly? – and looked up at Ginny's curious face.

She pointed to James. "That's Harry's dad." Remus mumbled a quiet 'yes', keeping his eyes on the photograph. Ginny skipped the boys in the middle and pointed to the short, blonde one with the rounded face who stood at the end of the photograph. Peter never had grown as well as the other three Marauders did.

"And him?"

"Pete."

"Another one of your mates?"

"One of my best mates." Remus kept his answers short, unable to offer a long explanation while keeping his emotions guarded, but truthful, not wanting to lie to the young girl. Ginny nodded slowly, before moving her finger to the tallest boy of the group, the one with the soft hair and ugly scars.

"That's you, isn't it?" Ginny smiled, looking up at Remus, obviously quite pleased with her perceptiveness. Remus nodded, laughing quietly. "You look very nice." Ginny mumbled, shy to be confessing that in front of a professor. Remus ruffled her hair gently and smiled. Ginny pointed to the last character, the one beside Remus; the handsome boy with long black hair and flawless skin.

"Who's that one?" Remus felt his chest tighten and he quickly pulled his hand away from the photograph, as if he'd been burned, staring out the window with steely eyes. Ginny, surprisingly, didn't notice. She was a bright and charming witch, but clearly not an observant one. Remus swallowed, trying to calm his erratic heartbeat, before looking back down at the photo.

"Sirius Black."

A small gasp tumbled from the lips of the young girl and Remus squeezed his eyes shut, ready for the thousands of questions Ginny no doubt had on the tip of her tongue. Much to his relief – and surprise – Ginny only made a small comment.

"Oh."

She sounded disappointed and Remus wanted to shake her, wanted to scream 'you have no fucking idea. You have no fucking idea how utterly disappointing it is.' But Remus, rational and calm by nature, kept his mouth shut and his hands by his side.

"He's beautiful." Ginny traced Sirius' smirking face with her small fingers and Remus felt his heart tighten again. Of course Sirius was beautiful. Daft, selfish, reckless, foolish, evil... but undeniably beautiful. Remus rubbed his jaw with one hand, sighing inaudibly.

"He was... he really was."

"Better than his photo in the paper." Ginny said sadly. Remus chewed the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out in pain. The photo in the paper was not Sirius Black. Not Remus' Sirius Black anyways. Remus knew Padfoot – he hated calling Sirius that, but sometimes he let it slip... and sometimes he couldn't find it in him to correct his mistake – as the boy who could always make Moony laugh the day after the Full, no matter the wounds the wolf had inflicted the previous night. Padfoot was the boy who taught Moony how to love himself and have confidence in his scars. Padfoot was the boy who had stolen Moony's heart and loved Moony just a ferociously as he deserved to be loved.

But Sirius Black was no longer Padfoot and Remus Lupin was no longer Moony.

"Was he your best mate?" Ginny asked, curiosity spilling with every word. "Your very best mate?"

"Why would you say he's my very best mate? There's two other boys in the photograph." Remus tried to keep his voice amused, for Ginny's sake, but instead sounded tired and drained. Ginny paid no mind and looked down, pointing to the space (or lack thereof) between Remus and Sirius.

"You're holding him awfully tight. It's like you never want to let go." Ginny waited for Remus to answer but he didn't. He couldn't, not with the confidence that his voice would stay strong. Maybe he had underestimated the young Weasley's observation skills. "I do that sometimes too, you know. Like when I go back home for the summer. I miss my friends terribly, especially my favourite ones."

"Yeah... my best mate. Sirius was– he was something like that." Remus gave Ginny a small smile who accepted the information happily. Remus prayed for her to turn the page, but she kept staring at the photograph of the Marauders.

"I bet you miss him terribly."

Ginny then quickly flipped the page, clearly not looking for an answer to her statement. Remus stared at the table, unable to move a muscle. He did, he really did miss Sirius, and Remus hated himself for it. How could he so terribly miss the man who had betrayed and killed his best friends? How could he miss the man who had taken his heart and crushed it as if it had meant nothing?

A loud growl broke Remus out of his self-loathing and he smiled widely at Ginny, grateful for the distraction. She looked down at her swinging feet, clearly embarrassed.

"I forgot you were missing lunch to keep me company." Remus stood up, scraping his chair on the hardwood floor. "I'll just be a moment." Ginny smiled, before turning her attention back to the book.

Remus didn't have any treats in his office or classroom, so he was forced to walk down to the kitchen and grab something from the House Elves. It wasn't as if he minded. Remus needed something to calm his heart, which felt as though it was ready to explode, and clear his mind, which was filled with thousands of thoughts all inclusive to a certain Pureblood. He tried to keep Sirius out of his head, he really did; tried to forget his soft black hair and piercing grey eyes. But Ginny, like most children, didn't understand the weight of her words. She didn't understand how much Remus missed Sirius, or how much he still loved him after all these years.

Remus himself didn't understand it.

By the time he had gotten back to his office, quite some time had passed. Remus worried briefly that Ginny would finish the album and grow bored, but quickly dismissed the idea, as it was a fairly large photo album. He opened the door quietly and noticed that she was on the last couple of pages. He smiled and closed the door behind him, accidentally shutting it a bit louder than he had intended. Ginny's head snapped up.

"Wow, looks like you're almost done." Ginny blushed, her face matching her vibrant hair, quickly shutting the book before Remus could reach the desk. He furrowed his brows and placed the tray of sweets on the dark wood. Ginny grabbed one and muttered a small 'thanks', but kept her eyes locked on the floor. Remus pulled the book from underneath the weight of her hands and her face, if possible, turned an even deeper shade of red. He cocked his head, confused about Ginny's puzzling behaviour.

Remus turned to the last couple of pages and his breath caught in his throat. How could he have forgotten? In twelve years, Remus had not once finished the photo album, as a result of the last few pages. He couldn't bear to look at the photos of him and Sirius, as lovers, that were already burned into his mind.

Thankfully, none of the photos were unsuitable for a twelve year old, perhaps just a little shocking.

Remus ran his fingers over the animated faces, allowing a small smile to tug on his lips. Most of the photos had been taken without Sirius or Remus' knowledge, although there had been a couple that Sirius – avid hater of taking photographs – had demanded Lily capture for them.

In one, Remus was asleep in his infirmary bed, all bandaged and looking as if he was made of glass. Sirius was half asleep at the side of the bed, his fingers lazily tracing the scars on Remus hand before softly pressing his lips to the rough knuckles.

Another was from the back, walking alongside the lake, the two boys were walking so close together it was hard to tell whose robes were who's, which they used to their advantage to subtly link fingers. Remus shoved Sirius lightly who tripped over his own footing and fell into said lake, causing Remus to cry with laughter when he emerged with a plant tangled up in his hair. The one beside that had Sirius, sitting cross legged on the floor, with Lily teaching Remus how to braid his boyfriend's hair. It had been taken by James, who couldn't figure out how the 'damn muggle camera worked'.

There were plenty of other ones; photos where Remus and Sirius had fallen asleep in the bed nearest the door, Sirius kissing Remus' forehead (admittedly with some difficulty), the couple sitting by the fireplace content to just bask in the presence of the other. The worst thing about the photographs, Remus knew, was that most were unplanned, unplanned and beautifully chaotic.

It reminded Remus a little too much of how their relationship really was.

Perhaps the most scandalous, and Remus' personal favourite, photo was the one where Remus and Sirius were snogging quite intimately. Remus had his hands threaded through Sirius' hair (Remus still remembered how it felt to intertwine the raven strands in his fingers) and Sirius held Remus' jaw, pressing their lips together. They pulled apart ever so slightly for air, their foreheads resting on the other's. The two boys had swollen lips and red cheeks, both of them smiling, eyes closed, into the kiss.

Remus loved when Sirius held his jaw, tracing the scars as if they were the finest art in the world.

Remus glanced up and caught the eyes of Ginny who was staring intently at him. She quickly looked away, pretending to find her biscuit very interesting.

"You saw the photos." Remus stated, closing the book and grabbing a biscuit. The pain in his chest was now a dull ache, the fondness of those photos, of that man, filling his heart with light. Ginny looked up and tilted her head slightly to the side in a confused manner.

"You're not mad?" Remus laughed and shook his head, patting Ginny's hand reassuringly.

"Of course not."

"But I saw your private photos. I'm sorry for prying."

"You weren't prying, I allowed you to look at the album. I'm sorry if the photographs shocked you." Ginny shook her head fiercely, almost as if she was angry at the insinuation.

"They didn't." She took a bite of her biscuit and chewed thoughtfully before opening her mouth to speak. "So he's not your very best mate. He's your boyfriend." Ginny reached for another treat and Remus was surprised at her lack of emotion, or more specifically her lack of disgust. He knew Molly would never teach her any of her children to discriminate against any Wizards or Witches, but Remus also knew how students could be rather cruel sometimes.

"You're not shocked?" Remus asked lightly, staring at the peculiar Weasley. She giggled and shook her head.

"'Course not. I know that some Wizards like Wizards and some Witches like Witches, Mum explained it all to me. My Uncle Gideon has a husband, I really enjoy when they both come over." Ginny explained, waving her biscuit around and letting small crumbs fly everywhere. Remus didn't bother brushing them away, instead he smiled at Ginny, who beamed back.

"Thank you."

Ginny hummed in response and shoved the last bit of her treat into her mouth, shuffling further back on the chair happily. A thoughtful look crossed her face and she tapped her chin slowly. She stared Remus in the eye, her brown eyes wide as saucers.

"Do you love him?" The pain returned to Remus' chest once more and he nodded slowly.

_Love him?_ Remus thought bitterly. _I'd give him the world if I could. I'd take his goddamn place in Azkaban._

But Remus knew he couldn't very well talk about doing anything for a man who had recently escaped from Azkaban in front of a Second Year, so he opted to keep his answer simple.

"More than anything." Ginny nodded, happy with his answer. A moment of silence passed before she asked Remus another question.

"Does he love you?"

Remus sighed, that was a question he honestly didn't know the answer to. At Hogwarts, of course Sirius loved him; he never failed to remind Remus of that. When they had gotten a flat together, before the lies and suspicion arose, Remus knew that the love was still there, if not stronger than before. But when Sirius had betrayed them all and... well maybe Remus didn't want to know the truth.

"He did once." Ginny frowned, clearly not as pleased with this answer as the one before.

"How do you know?" She demanded, crossing her arms. "How do you know you love him? How do you know he doesn't love you anymore?" Remus knew what he had told Ginny, but hearing her say it out loud made Remus' heart squeeze painfully in his chest. He gripped the arms of the chair with one hand, rubbing his temples with the other.

"You just know when you love someone, Ginny." The girl didn't seem phased by the use of her name, despite the fact that she hadn't introduced herself to Remus. "You can't imagine life without them, and when you're forced to experience that... you can't breath or eat or sleep. It's like they took a piece of your heart, kept it in the pocket of their robes." Ginny nodded slowly, trying to keep up with what Remus was saying. Of course, he didn't expect her too. Ginny was young, too young to have ever experienced the type of love Remus was talking about.

The type of love that keeps you from drowning, that keeps you breathing, that keeps you alive. The type of love where you bare your soul and trust, where you're naked in every meaning possible. The type of love that you believe to be invincible.

The type of love that destroys you when it ends.

"As for your second question... I just know Sirius doesn't love me anymore. You don't hurt the people you love."

///

Ginny was livid. She didn't think it was possible to feel this red hot inside, but her stomach squirmed in anger. It just wasn't fair!

Why was Professor Lupin forced to love Sirius Black? Sirius Black was a murderer. Sirius Black didn't love Professor Lupin back.

Ginny clenched her fists tightly on the table. She noticed Professor Lupin glance at in questioningly, but she kept it tightly balled. "Merlin! That's just not fair to you!" She voiced her thoughts, loud and clear. Professor Lupin chuckled and shook his head, placing a hand on her tense fist.

"Life isn't always fair." Ginny thoughts flashed to Ron and thought about how ridiculously unfair it was that he didn't like her talking to Harry. Her fist slowly opened as her shoulders hunched sadly over her small body. She wished life was fair. She wished Harry still had his parents and Professor Lupin still had the man he was in love with. She wished that every single person had who or what they needed to be truly happy.

"I like Harry." Ginny spoke quietly, swinging her feet nervously. Professor Lupin looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I definitely don't love him! But... I do think I fancy him a bit. Enough to grab his bloody textbook for him anyways." Ginny grumbled and hopped off her chair, remembering why she had come up her in the first place.

"Thanks Professor." Professor Lupin stood as well and followed Ginny to the door, opening it for her. She smiled and stopped in front of him. He put a steady hand on her shoulder, tired hazel eyes meeting twinkling brown ones.

"Maybe we keep this a secret?" Professor Lupin offered gently. "Just about me and Sirius, and me and Harry's parents." Ginny nodded, pleased that someone had trusted her enough to tell her a secret of theirs. She frowned, thoughtful for a moment, before throwing her arms around Professor Lupin.

"I'm glad you and Sirius were in love for a little while." Ginny mumbled into his robes. Professor Lupin patted her back gently and she slowly detached herself from the teacher. With a sad smile, she waved goodbye and slowly walked down the stairs, her steps quickening as she remembered why she had come in the first place, as she remembered her brilliant, brilliant plan.

And there was no way Ron was going to be able to spoil _breakfast_.


End file.
